


Patience Yields Focus

by CastielFollowMe



Series: Single Dad Shiro Verse [104]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Coping, Depression, Fluff and Angst, Galra Empire, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Single Dad Shiro AU AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-01-10 06:24:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12293181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielFollowMe/pseuds/CastielFollowMe
Summary: An AU of my Single Dad Shiro AU that follows the Netflix cannon storyline.Becoming Defenders of the Universe was not the type of job that single father Takashi Shirogane was expecting, especially when it meant bringing your eight-year-old son into space to fight an intergalactic war. He probably should have just stuck to teaching.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay! So some fans have asked about this and I often talk about this AU of my single dad Shiro AU! So talk about AU-inception. This little mini-fic was inspired by the canon events of VLD but replacing it with the characters from my Single Dad Shiro AU. I doubt it's any good but it was fun to write! I'll be back to getting back to prompts for my Single Dad Shiro AU soon enough but I thought this might be fun! Less than a week until season 4 and I am ready!

               “I’m honored but I can’t.” Shiro said, despite the desperation in his heart. He saw everyone in the room staring at him, some with mouths agape, others with wide eyes and some with frowns. He could barely hear anyone when the room exploded in chaos. Cameras were flashing, reporters were demanding questions and Garrison personnel were trying to get everyone to quiet down.

               Finally, Commander Iverson turned to look at Shiro, his one eye was narrowed with irritation and his jaw was clenched.

               “What do you mean _no?_ Do you understand what opportunity you’d lose if you say no?” Iverson asked lowly when the room returned to silence. Shiro didn’t back down from Iverson’s intimidating stare and merely shrugged.

               “Yeah. I understand completely _sir,”_ Shiro responded quietly, addressing everyone in the room. “But as many of you should be aware – since I’ve only talked about this _every time I’m talking to someone –_ I have a son. A son who is only seven -years-old and has no one else but me.” Shiro looked at everyone in the room, watching as many of them nodded in realization or understanding. When he looked back at Iverson there was a hint of realization underneath his angry scowl. “Keith is the greatest thing that’s happened to me, when I didn’t know what to do with my life. From the day that I adopted him, I’ve been happier than I could ever imagine and he is my whole world. He’s my baby. Then I got the job here at the Garrison as a short-term pilot on Earth and an instructor and my world got even better. I got to do what I love and still get to see Keith’s face every day.”

               “I mean, it’s not every school that lets you bring your son into class.” Shiro chuckled, earning several laughs from the group in the room.

               “Commander Iverson, sir,” Shiro took a deep breath before facing Iverson and saluting. Still, slightly stunned, Iverson saluted back and Shiro grinned. “I know that being the lead pilot for the Kerberos exploration would be a once-in-a-lifetime offer, but so is being the best father I can be for Keith. And I can’t leave him alone for that long.”

               “No!”

               Shiro and everyone gasped upon hearing the tiny voice shout. Shiro blinked dumbly when he caught sight of a fast-moving, small blur of black hair racing through the crowd. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened but he quickly dropped down to one knee just before the familiar blur could run into him. Shiro closed his arms around the small person and shifted them so that he could look into their beautiful blue-nearly-violet eyes.

               “Keith, sweetheart, what on _Earth_ are you doing in here?” Shiro whispered, ignoring the whispers and laughter around them. Keith huffed dramatically, before pinching Shiro’s cheek causing Shiro to wince. He didn’t know why his son was acting this way. Typically Keith was the best-behaved child ever and he was _always_ an angel.

               “Uncle Kuro let me in.” Keith stated proudly and Shiro groaned out loud. He was going to have a “friendly” chat with his brother about keeping better track of _his_ son. Shiro sighed heavily before standing up but Keith was still staring at him with the same determined frown. It was rather impressive for a seven-year-old and Shiro knew that Keith had learned it from him.

               “What’s wrong sweetie?” Shiro finally asked and Keith huffed loudly.

               “You can’t say no to going to space!” Keith finally shouted, hands in the air and little body tense. Shiro saw the crowd of personnel and reporters coo at the sight of Keith and even Iverson was biting back a smile.

               “What?” Shiro asked. He tried smiling at Keith, only for Keith to shake his head and growl dangerously. “Honey, if I go to Kerberos, I’m going to be gone for eight _months._ Daddy won’t be home to tuck you in, or read you stories or play with you.” Shiro explained quietly, maintaining eye contact with his son. Keith’s frown momentarily deepened when he rubbed his chin, as if deep in thought. However, after a couple of minutes he nodded to himself and clasped a hand on Shiro’s shoulder.

               “That means you’ll be back for my eighth birthday and that’s okay!” Keith clapped happily, causing Shiro’s heart to swell with love. “Daddy you _love_ space. This is so amazing and you can’t not go because of me. You _have_ to do this.”

               “But baby,” Shiro could feel his lower lip trembling with tears at how big Keith’s heart was. This was the one thing that Shiro absolutely adored about his son. He was _always_ putting others before him. “I’m going to miss you.” Shiro finally admitted. His heart cracked when he saw tears building up in Keith’s eyes and Keith’s lip wobbling.

               Keith threw his arms around Shiro’s neck and Shiro pulled Keith as close to him as he possibly could. For a few minutes the father and son ignored everything else in the room and simply focused on each other. They were lost in their own world that no one could break into.

               “I’ll miss you too daddy. Every single day.” Keith whispered into Shiro]’s ear. Slowly the two pulled back from one another and Shiro gently began to wipe the tears from under Keith’s eyes. “But you have to go daddy. This is your dream.”

               “Oh Keith,” Shiro couldn’t help but smile at his son and Keith instantly beamed. “I’ll have Uncle Kuro and mister Hunk and Pidgey and even Stinky Lance. So I’ll be okay. Besides,” Keith found himself grinning even wider and Shiro chuckled. They both could hear an offending shout from the back of the room but ignored it for a second to remained focus on each other.

               “Do you know how amazing it’ll be to say that my dad is the first pilot to travel the farthest any human has gone before?” Keith grinned cheekily, causing the entire room to erupt in laughter. Even Shiro. “Plus I get  to brag that my daddy went to _space.”_

               “Shirogane?” Iverson quietly interrupted the two. Shiro stared at Keith’s face for a few seconds longer before taking a deep, deep breath and facing the crowd of reporters. By now, everyone was silent once more and waiting in anticipation for what Takashi Shirogane was about to say.

               “Well, then I guess I do accept the position of the pilot of the Kerberos mission.”

               With that, the entire room exploded again with questions, camera’s flashing and cheers. But Shiro only had eyes for one person in the room: Keith. He was going to memorize every last detail about his son before he went away so that he would never forget Keith.

               Everything would be fine.

x.V.x

               Everything was not fine.

               Shiro had been gone _eighteen_ months.

               It was only a couple of months before Keith’s ninth birthday and Shiro was still gone. The mission had been a failure and declared a result of _piloting error_ only five months into the expedition. Shiro was only supposed to be gone another three months and then be back for Keith’s eight birthday.

               Instead, he and his crew had vanished and the Garrison had clammed up.

               They’d refused Kuro _any_ access to the ship’s video log and footage, or the piloting log. They’d denied Kuro access back into the Garrison and after catching _Keith_ and some punk girl snooping in Iverson’s office, Kuro had been _banned_ from ever returning back to the Garrison.

               Kuro had fought tooth and nail demanding where his twin brother was, and _what were they hiding?_ Kuro knew that it wasn’t the result of pilot error but that the Garrison was covering something up. But after being banned, there was no way for Kuro to get back into those records. Besides, he had Keith to look after now.

               His nephew.

               His eight-year-old nephew who may have potentially lost his _father_ forever and the Garrison will still refuse to tell them what happened to Shiro. His nephew who was traumatized because his father was probably _dead_ and no one would help him. His nephew who wouldn’t go to school anymore or play with friends or talk to anyone other than Kuro, and even then it was a stretch.

               Life without Takashi was a mess.

               It was hard and Kuro didn’t know if he could do this. If he could raise Keith by himself and move on without knowing what truly happened to his brother. But Kuro knew he had to – for Shiro and for Keith. He would do anything for either of them. He knew that despite the pain and despite the heartache that was sure to follow for the rest of their lives, Kuro would raise Keith for as long as he could. He wouldn’t fail his brother nor his nephew.

               Still it was hard.

               There were still days where Kuro wanted to drive out to the Garrison to tease his brother, only to remember that Takashi was no longer here. There were times where Kuro was in the middle of dialing his brother’s cell before realizing that it was locked away somewhere at the Garrison with the rest of Takashi’s stuff. They couldn’t even get Takashi’s stuff.

               Keith was miserable.

               He was miserable and quiet. Never saying more than a handful of words every day. Sometimes he would talk to Kuro and _only_ Kuro. Even then it was only a few words and sparse. Kuro tried everything to get the boy talking, even going as far as to get someone for Keith to talk to. However, everyone always had the _same_ thing to say. Keith was just being difficult; he was always this problematic but Shiro had a firmer grip on discipline; Keith needed a firm hand; Keith would get over it.

               After that Kuro never made Keith go to a therapist ever again. Not after he’d ranted and raved about belittling a child who had lost his father forever before the age of ten. After that, Kuro had packed up his and Keith’s shit up and moved out into the desert where no one could bother them. He’d taken whatever he could of Shiro’s from his old home and then Kuro and Keith were living alone in the middle of the desert.

               A small part of Kuro knew it probably wasn’t healthy to isolate Keith but it was obvious that Keith needed some space for a while. It wasn’t like this would be forever. Kuro tried to think of it like a temporary vacation for Keith and Kuro to both calm down. He knew Keith was upset; upset to have lost the person whom he loved most in the entire world after having been abandoned by his birth parents. It must be hard on Keith.

               However, the two of them managed in the desert. Kuro made money off Shiro’s pension and some odd jobs for people in town. The two was only a twenty-minute drive on the hover bike, meaning Kuro could always get necessities such as water and food and clothing and work. Keith always joined Kuro on these trips to the town, since Kuro was _terrified_ to leave Keith out of his sights. Deep down, Kuro could see that the last thing Keith actually wanted was to be left alone.

               During their time in the desert, Keith didn’t speak much more than usual but he’d begun to get out of the house again. It started out when Kuro was transporting some materials for a military base, deep into the desert and Kuro brought Keith along with him. This time Keith had gone willingly and wandered around at the site where Kuro stopped at. He’d nearly given Kuro a heart attack when he disappeared into one of the caves.

               “Keith, what the _hell_ are you doing in here?!” Kuro hissed when he finally found his nephew wandering in a dark cave.

               Keith blinked and glanced over his shoulder at Kuro. The kid didn’t even look sorry for disappearing on Kuro and if Kuro hadn’t been so worried, he probably would have appreciated his nephew’s “give-no-fucks” attitude.

               “Can’t you feel it?” Keith asked quietly, startling Kuro from another rant. Kuro froze, frowning at the sudden statement Keith gave him. It wasn’t like he didn’t want Keith to talk, but even this was a bit too cryptic for Keith.

               “Feel what?” Kuro asked slowly as he made his way over to where Keith was standing against a wall. Keith had both hands on the wall of the cave and was leaning up against it. Kuro felt a cool breeze pass through the cave and he shivered. “Keith, bud, what are you talking about?”

               “The energy? Don’t you feel it?” Keith cocked his head, looking surprised that Kuro didn’t understand what he was talking about. Kuro blinked once more and frowned at his nephew. _This was strange._ Kuro glanced around the cave, silent for a few moments, trying to see if he could _feel_ whatever Keith was talking about.

               “Energy?” Kuro swallowed, quickly reaching down to pick Keith up. Keith willingly went with Kuro, but not without tracing his hands along the cave walls. Kuro shivered once more and ushered the both of them out of the cave. “I think it’s time we both went home.”

               Kuro quickly loaded himself and Keith onto his hoverbike. Keith managed to sneak a look back at the caves that they had been and Kuro hesitated to start the engine of the bike. There was an odd look on Keith’s face, one that Kuro hadn’t seen in _months._ It was the first spark of life that Kuro could see in Keith’s eyes; the first signs of life. Deep in his heart, Kuro figured it probably wasn’t a good idea to come back to the caves. Especially with Keith’s weird talk about “energy” when there wasn’t any. However, Kuro couldn’t deny that his heart was racing upon seeing that spark in Keith’s eyes.

               Deep in Kuro’s heart, he knew Shiro wouldn’t want Keith near this, however, he also knew that he had to do whatever it took to keep that spark in Keith. Even if that meant coming back to the caves.

               Back to the caves, Kuro and Keith went.

               Whenever, Kuro had a job near the area, he would bring Keith along with him. Every time Keith’s eyes would light up and he would practically run into the caves and spend hours upon hours in them. All the while, under Kuro’s watchful observation after he had finished his job. Eventually, Kuro had taken to listening to Keith’s rambles and providing Keith with notebooks and writing down anything that Keith did or said.

               Once Keith realized that Kuro was taking _notes,_ he demanded that Kuro help him.

               Help him to find the strange energy.

               What terrified Kuro, was when he finally felt the energy that Keith felt.

               The two of them had been coming back to the caves for two weeks now and each time Kuro would write Keith’s interactions and ramblings in the caves. He’d snap photos of the caves and areas around them, and that was when he spotted them.

               Carvings of lions. All of the walls of the caves. They were nearly invisible to Kuro, but he could just make out the dozens of outlines of large cats and lions all over the caves. He was in awe as his fingers ran along the patterns of the lions, when he realized that Keith had found these carvings long ago and it was this that he was always touching on the walls. Keith _almost_ smiled when he saw Kuro seeing the carvings for the first time.

               Kuro was about to smile at his nephew, when he felt it.

               A calling.

               Something was reaching out to him but Kuro couldn’t figure out what. It was a strange _energy_ that was drawing not only him but Keith to these caves. It was unreal, when he realized he could feel this energy calling out to both Keith and Kuro. This energy felt physical yet, it was reaching into their minds without any problem. There was also the problem that physically there was only Keith and Kuro in the caves, but it felt like there was more beings in the caves with them. Kuro swallowed heavily, nearly stumbling back from the cave walls.

               “You feel it too, don’t you?” Keith finally whispered, grasping his uncle’s hand for the first time in over a year. Kuro choked back a noise and stared at Keith with wide eyes. Keith grabbed Kuro’s hand with his other hand and held tightly to his uncle.

               “W-What is it?” Kuro whispered before cursing. As if the eight-year-old would know.

               “I don’t know,” Keith admitted before stroking his uncle’s hand. “But I don’t think its bad or wants to hurt us.” Keith looked around the cave, which Kuro followed with more caution. He swallowed thickly before pulling Keith up into his arms in a protective embrace. For a split-second Kuro was ready to book out of here, and make a run to keep safe. _My only concern is to keep Keith safe._ He wasn’t about to let anything happen to Keith; not while he was still alive. Energy or no energy. However, the thought immediately diminished with sudden guilt when he too realized that the energy wasn’t harmful.

               “It wants us to find it.” Kuro realized with wide eyes and Keith nodded solemnly. “But how?” Keith didn’t say anything to this and instead snuggled up into his uncle’s chest. Kuro remained where he was for a few more hours longer until he realized the sun was going down. Eventually he and Keith had to leave, but not without that longing ringing through their bodies to return and find whatever was calling out to them.

               _If only Takashi could see us now._

x.V.x

               “Fuck, Kuro don’t you think this is a bit unhealthy?” Lance was the first to speak after Kuro had let him, Hunk and Pidge into their house. It was quite a surprise for Kuro _and_ Keith to see the three Garrison instructors on their front porch late one night. Kuro was even more surprised when Lance had immediately started ranting and scolding Kuro in a mixture of Spanish and English for his reckless abandonment and did Kuro even know what a _phone was?_ Kuro was too stunned to stop any of them from entering the house, where Keith had lit up and ran to greet all three of them quietly. _Keith wouldn’t have done that a month ago._

               That was when Hunk spotted the boards in the living room. Covered in string, pictures of caves, notes and drawings.

               That was how they spent ten long minutes staring at the board while Kuro set up Keith’s bed and put him to bed.

               “Kuro, you need to come back home.” Pidge tried slowly, eyes never leaving the intricate board of notes. She was amazed at the concepts and the science behind many of the notes. Whatever Kuro had been working on was far more advanced than _anything_ Earth had seen. In fact, Pidge questioned if any of this was probable on Earth.

               “Why?” That was all that Kuro could think to say when he could speak again. His entire body took a defensive position when Lance glared at him and Pidge and Hunk frowned.

               “Why? You are _raising_ a child in the middle of the fucking desert!” Lance practically spat, trying to keep his voice down in hopes to not wake Keith. Lance felt his heart crack at the thought of little Keith. Shiro had been a friend and mentor to all three of them, and they’d become an honorary family for Keith, Shiro and Kuro. Of course, Lance had been devastated and depressed upon learning of Shiro’s death and his immediate concern was for Kuro and Keith. However, when he finally got around to checking in on Kuro and Keith, Kuro had been banned from the Garrison and suddenly he’d moved with Keith without a forwarding address. It had taken a lot of (illegal) hacking on Pidge’s part just to locate Kuro.

               “He’s fine!” Kuro defended.

               “Kuro, he’s alone. He’s not in school and now you’re letting him hang out in random caves?” Hunk interrupted softly before gesturing to the board behind them. Immediately, Kuro tensed and crossed his arms over his chest. _They didn’t understand._

               “He lost his _father_ Kuro.” Pidge said softly.

               “Like I don’t know that. Takashi was my fucking twin _brother.”_ Kuro hissed sharply and the three Garrison instructors flinched.

               “You both are mourning Shiro and that’s perfectly okay.” Pidge continued, Hunk and Lance nodded with her. “But hiding both of you in the desert in isolation isn’t healthy. He needs to be around people and _mourn_ his dad. And Kuro, you’re not alone.”

               “Yes, dumbass.” Lance rolled his eyes but this time he wasn’t yelling. “You never were. We would have helped with Keith and given you a place to stay after the Garrison. You’re our family. We lost Shiro and then we thought we’d lost you and Keith and that’s not fair.”

               Kuro felt his body deflating and he swallowed past the lump in his throat. He’d never stopped to consider what Hunk, Lance or Pidge had felt after everything. He didn’t’ even stop to consider if Keith would miss them or not, and it was obvious Keith had missed these three when he happily but quietly greeted them.

               “I’m sorry.” He whispered tightly. Instantly, Lance lost all his will to fight and Pidge and Hunk sighed.

               “Kuro, we can never understand how you and Keith must be feeling but Shiro was our family too.” Lance said softly, wrapping one arm around Kuro’s shoulders. “You know this can’t be healthy for Keith and now he’s making up weird shit on a board to pass the time?” Lance pointed looked back at the board and Kuro pulled back. He felt offended by Lance’s statement but he had to remind himself that Lance and the others didn’t understand the significance of the board.

               “It’s not his.” Kuro stated firmly, running a hand through is hair. “At least the theories and writing. He helps with notes and pictures but this is my work too.”

               “What the hell?” Lance’s jaw dropped.

               “What on Earth are you working on?” Pidge gasped and glasses slid down her nose. Kuro smirked slightly at her shock before shrugging.

               “I don’t exactly know.” He admitted, causing Hunk and Lance to sputter. Pidge frowned in obvious confusion. “When Keith and I left the Garrison we were…lost. I took to some small jobs out in the desert for the military when we came across these caves,” Kuro slowly pointed to the photos of the caves out in the desert. He traced one photo then another. “Keith was immediately drawn to him and he was – he was _happy._ Well not happy, but the closest I’ve seen him since Shiro left. Guys, I couldn’t take that away from him.”

               Kuro glanced at the three in his living room, catching their understanding looks. All of them would have done the same thing as Kuro to preserve that spark.

               “So we kept coming back and that was when Keith started talking about a strange energy calling to him.” Kuro said. Instantly, Lance jumped back.

               “Does he have _heatstroke?_ Were you watching him?!”

               “Yes.” Kuro said through gritted teeth, getting his anger across to Lance. “He was fine but he kept talking about some weird energy and how it was calling to him. And for a while I thought, he was just being a kid? You know, kids have active imaginations.” Kuro insisted. Slowly, Pidge, Hunk and Lance nodded in agreement.

               “But then I felt it too.” Kuro said, dropping the bomb and leaving the house in stunned silence. “I don’t know how to explain it but Keith was right. We were drawn to some kind of energy here. But I don’t know why?”

               Silence etched on.

               “Kuro…” Pidge finally started only to be cut off by small footprints racing down the stairs of the house. Everyone jumped back when Keith sudden appeared at the bottom of the stairs, no longer in his pajamas. Kuro’s eyes widened and he ran over to Keith’s side, hearing Keith’s labored breathing and seeing his wide eyes.

               “Keith? What’s wrong?”

               “There’s something here! Uncle Kuro we have to go! Something is coming!” Keith practically shouted and Kuro recoiled in shock. Lance, Hunk and Pidge were painted pictures of confusion as they stared at Keith’s sudden panic. The three of them shared a look.

               “Keith, whoa, whoa, calm down.” Kuro tried to put his hands on Keith’s shoulders, only for Keith to wiggle away from Kuro.

               “No! We have to go now! Something is gonna happen!” Keith demanded, hands clenched in tony fists and Kuro blinked. “Uncle Kuro, can’t you _feel it?”_

               Kuro felt his entire blood freeze and a ringing filled his ears. He tried to reach out and feel that energy that he and Keith had found earlier, but they’d never been able to feel it once they left the caves. Kuro tried as hard as he could but there was nothing. Nada. He couldn’t feel anything out of the ordinary and the others were staring at them.

               “Kuro? What’s going on?” Lance demanded, sounding very judgmental at the moment. Kuro was torn between looking back at his friends and keeping his entire attention on Keith. Who desperately needed it.

               “Uncle Kuro!” Keith pleaded and Kuro’s heart cracked down the middle.

               “Kuro!”

               _BAM!_

               Everyone jumped when a bright light suddenly filled the sky, making it feel like daylight. The ground rumbled and their ears run when a loud noise filled the air as the light got dimmer and dimmer. Kuro glanced out the front window and his eyes widened at what he saw.

               There was a ship falling at tremendous speeds through their atmosphere and towards the ground. It took only a couple of seconds before the ship impacted on the ground and everyone standing nearly fell over from the force of the impact. Kuro quickly grabbed onto Keith so he wouldn’t fall and knelt down. He could hear the others yelling in surprise behind him, but he didn’t move until the ship had crashed. Kuro glanced out the window to see the ship had crashed not far from the house, only a few miles by the hoverbike. He knew the Garrison would have seen this and no doubt they were already on their way.

               Silence followed before the panic.

               “What was that? What just happened? Are we in trouble? Are we going to die?” Hunk asked while Lance and Pidge both ran to the windows beside Kuro. Kuro’s eyes were locked onto the light around the fallen ship in the distance and his grip on Keith tightened.

               “That’s not a Garrison ship.” Pidge commented and it was then that Kuro realized she had binoculars.

               “What?! Then what was it?!” Lance cried out, already ready to snatch the binoculars from Pidge’s hands. The two began to bicker as Pidge refused to give up her lens. All the while, Kuro made his way outside the front door, staring at the site of the crashed ship. He then looked down to see the wide-eyed look in Keith’s eyes before swallowing in realization. _I’m sorry Shiro._

               He was just strapping Keith into the front with him when Lance, Pidge and Hunk came sprinting out of his house.

               “Hold on, wait a minute. Hold on.” Lance yelled suddenly. “Wait, wait, wait a minute. What are you doing?” Lance planted himself right in front of the hover bike just as Kuro was finish strapping in Keith. He nearly growled out loud when he saw Pidge and Hunk following Lance. Realistically, Kuro knew that they were probably thinking logically about the situation, and to them it must look like Kuro was having a breakdown.

               “We need to say what that crash was.” Kuro muttered before hopping onto the bike. He was stopped when Pidge and Hunk each grabbed one of his legs.

               “With _Keith?_ With a child?” Lance scoffed. Keith huffed impatiently and Kuro could hear the ringing in his ears again.

               “You don’t understand. It looks bad, I know –” Kuro started.

               “Hell, yeah it looks bad! Get him off that thing!” Lance shouted and Kuro winced.

               “Kuro, you need help. This isn’t healthy. Let us help you.” Hunk replied softly. Kuro looked down to see Hunk watching him with soft, pleading eyes. However, Hunk had a firm grip on Kuro’s leg. Kuro knew Hunk wouldn’t go down without a fight.

               “You don’t understand. There’s something happening!” Kuro growled trying to rip free from his friends. “Keith and I can _feel_ it and we’re not crazy! Something is about to happen and we need to see what it is!” Kuro said quickly. He was desperate to get away from everyone and to see what was on that crashed ship. He knew that Keith was getting anxious on the seat in front of him. Briefly, Kuro felt someone releasing his leg and moving away from them.

               “There’s nothing going on! Whatever is happening the Garrison will take care of it, but Kuro it’s obvious you can’t keep isolating yourself and Keith! You can’t do this to him!” Lance argued hotly and Kuro frowned.

               “Keith is getting better! Like you said, he’s mourning his father!” Kuro said hotly.

               “By running off on crazy explorations with you! Do you even understand how dangerous this is?!” Lance snapped before Kuro could say anything else. Kuro’s fingers hovered over the start buttons and controls of the bike. “Are you even thinking about Keith’s safety right now?”

               “Of course I am!”

               “No, you’re not! Because then you wouldn’t be running off with an eight-year-old to the site of an unidentified crashed ship!”

               “He will be safe with me.”

               _“What would Shiro say?!”_

               Silence.

               The only sound was the quiet whispering wind and the ragged breaths of everyone. Kuro’s eyes widened at the mention of his deceased brother, and for a second Lance looked furious before his face morphed into a pained expression. Kuro felt the familiar burning of tears in the back of his eyes and he heard Keith sniffle.

               “Kuro…” Lance started, with a much softer and much kinder voice.

               “The Garrison has already set up on sight of the crash.” Pidge suddenly announced. She hopped over in front of Kuro’s hoverbike, with a computer and satellite in hand. She quickly handed the satellite over to Hunk to hold, but not before glaring at him. “Don’t break my equipment Hunk.”

               “Really? That was fast.” Lance commented, leaning over to peer at the computer screen with Kuro and the others. Sure enough, a base tent and several guards with high powered cars were in front of an enclosed area. Bright lights were all over the dark desert and several people were moving in an out of the base.

               “And if I’m correct, they must have some cameras installed on the inside for recording.” Pidge’s tongue stuck out as she rapidly typed on her keyboard. It took a few seconds of them staring at the outside of the camp, with the occasional comment from Lance on any of the female personal (to which Keith would smack him) before suddenly the screen changed to show the inside. “Yes! Bingo!”

               “Alright Pidge.” Kuro couldn’t help but praise and grin at his old friend, earning a smile from Pidge. However, both of their smiles were wiped when the saw what was happening on the screen. Kuro felt his heart drop and everyone felt ten degrees colder than before. They were frozen and could only stare at the figures on the scream, until Keith finally screamed.

               “DADDY!”

x.V.x

               Lance was exhausted. He wanted to sleep for days and just pretend that everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours had been a dream. He looked around the guest room and saw Hunk and Pidge both passed out in separate beds, no doubt exhausted too after staying up for over two days now.

               _Shiro was alive._

               After Keith’s scream, the group had realized that it was in fact Shiro on the computer screen, meaning Shiro was at the crash site. However, the strange thing was that Shiro was strapped down to a table and pleading with the Garrison men to listen to him. He was wearing a strange outfit that definitely wasn’t the outfit he’d left Earth on. No one would listen to Shiro no matter how much he shouted or pleaded, and instead they’d forced him under drugs to quiet him.

               That, of course, meant a rescue mission was to happen. Kuro _and_ Keith had been adamant on rescuing Shiro, however, it took the three Garrison instructors to insist that Kuro needed to keep Keith behind and that Kuro should stay with him. Kuro argued the whole time but Lance managed to convince Keith that the Garrison was unpredictable and no one knew how they would react to seeing Keith and Kuro breaking onto their property.

               Lance, Hunk and Pidge took Kuro’s bike to the base tent and using their status, they were able to get onto the site with ease. However, the troubling part was trying to get Shiro away from all of the people surrounding them. It was to their luck that despite staying back, Kuro had set off some explosions in the distance far away from everyone. This created the perfect distraction for Hunk to tie up (while apologizing profusely) the remaining doctors on sight before helping Lance to take Shiro.

               Shiro had changed too.

               He was much paler than before and there was a long scar running across the bridge of his nose. A white tuff of hair covered his bangs, but the most peculiar sight to Shiro now was his right arm. It was _gone._

               Instead, the arm was replaced by a high-tech prosthetic. One that Pidge cooed at and wanted to learn all about, but there wasn’t time right now for that. Lance could hear people of the Garrison returning and they were _angry._

               Luckily the three plus Shiro had gotten away easily and flown back to Kuro’s house. Where they were immediately greeted by Kuro and Keith. Keith was the first to burst into tears and try to latch onto his dad, but he was held back by Lance scooping him into his arms and allowing Kuro to take over helping his brother. Lance looked away at the broken look on Kuro’s face, knowing that whatever any of them were feeling was nothing compared to what Kuro was feeling. Shiro was his twin brother.

               It took a few hours for everything to calm down and Kuro had been the one to clean up and redress his brother and clean his wounds. Now, Shiro was lying in Kuro’s bed still asleep with Kuro at the beside running his hand along the robotic arm that Shiro had acquired.

               Keith was refusing to fall asleep but he’d allowed Lance to continue to hold him as long as he could still see his dad. Lance recognized the terror in Keith’s eyes and knew that Keith was afraid to fall asleep in case his dad really didn’t come home and Lance’s heart broke.

               Eventually, Shiro stirred.

               Everyone in the room held their breath as Shiro’s face scrunched up and his limps twitched. It took a few moments before his eyes slowly opened for this first time during this whole ordeal. Shiro blinked a couple of times, revealing dark, charcoal eyes that were a perfect match to Kuro. He frowned upon seeing Kuro watching him anxiously.

               “K – Kuro?” He whispered hoarsely and Lance thought Kuro was going to _cry._ However, Kuro didn’t cry and instead he nodded before reaching over and clasping Shiro’s hand. Shiro frowned again, glancing around the room as he began to realize he wasn’t where he probably expected to be. “I – Is this real?”

               “Yes. This is all real. I’m real and you’re finally home.” Kuro replied, causing Shiro to blink rapidly. He then began to maneuver himself into an upright position with help from Kuro. As Lance stepped into the room to help, Keith squirmed violently until Lance had nearly dropped him before Keith jumped to the floor. In the next second he was sprinting to the bed, and climbing up it before launching himself at his father. Shiro was momentarily startled, arms raised as he looked down.

               Though, when he looked down to see Keith in his arms, Lance could see the tears finally falling down Shiro’s face and quickly Shiro buried his face in Keith’s hair.

               “Daddy! Daddy! You’re home!” Keith sobbed loudly in his father’s arms. He moved himself so that he could try to keep pushing his face deeper and deeper into his dad while tightening his arms around his dad’s neck.

               “Oh Keith. Oh baby. Oh my little star.” Shiro whispered brokenly. Lance could feel tears building up in his own eyes but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the intimate moment. “I love you. I love you. I love you so much Keith.” Shiro peppered Keith’s face with kisses before inhaling the scent of the son he hadn’t seen in over a year.

               Lance knew that Shiro _and_ Keith needed this and they would all get their chance to greet their old friend and ask questions. That could come later though, because right now this moment was for Shiro and Keith.

               For the first time in months, Lance finally could smile.

_It’ll be okay._

x.V.x

               It was okay. For a few days at least.

               It was hard, especially after Keith had passed out in his father’s arms refusing to go anywhere else. Shiro was hesitant to let Keith go, which everyone understood and let him. There were hugs from everyone and Shiro had thanked everyone for rescuing him.

               Then the questions had started.

               Shiro couldn’t remember much of the last year of his life. The things he did remember made everyone sick. He could remember being captured by _aliens_ and held prisoner. He couldn’t remember much but everyone in the room knew that meant Shiro had been tortured, though no one knew to what extent. He went on about some kind of mass weapon that the aliens – the Galra – wanted on Earth called Voltron.

               At first everyone was confused as Shiro explained that Voltron was a weapon capable of stopping the Galra and that Earth was in trouble. That was until Shiro began explaining it was some energized weapon that the Galra couldn’t find. That was when Kuro had shown Shiro his board and explained what he’d been doing with Keith for the past few months.

               Shiro was _livid._

               “Why were you even taking him out this far into the middle of nowhere?!” Shiro hissed, early in the morning while Keith was still asleep. It was after he’d seen Kuro’s board and determined this energy must be Voltron.

               “He needed something to do! Shiro, he was finally happy! You were _dead.”_ Kuro pleaded with hands up in surrender. He hadn’t imagined fighting with his brother right after getting him back, though to be fair he never imagined seeing his brother again. Still, he didn’t want to fight.

               “So, you isolate him and let him wander dangerous caves?” Shiro rolled his eyes, before taking a deep breath. “Kuro, I trusted his life in your hands. You were supposed to take care of him.”

               “I did!” Kuro was hurt and tried not to look at Shiro to show him how hurt he was by Shiro’s words. _I didn’t want this to happen._ “Shiro, Keith was never alone. I was always with him and careful! We never went deep into the caves and he was hurting after losing you Shiro. He was _devastated_ when they claimed you were dead Shiro. How could I take away the one thing that made him look alive in a year?”

               “Didn’t you take him to see anyone?” Shiro asked and Kuro finally snarled.

               “Of course I did! I’m not an idiot and I thought you would have trusted me more!” Kuro bit out, causing Shiro to flinch back with a guilty look. “You know what they said? Every person I took Keith to see said this was a phase or that he would grow up and need to move on. A phase? It was a fucking phase that Keith was depressed after the supposed death of his father. So yeah, I got us a fresh new start away from all that and wound up here. Yeah we explored caves but his safety was _always_ first. This energy – if it is Voltron – never wanted us to hurt it. It was never dangerous and I can prove it to you.”

               Shiro said nothing else but simply stared at his brother. After a few seconds he walked right up to his brother, who was stiff as a board, before wrapping Kuro into a hug. “I’m sorry. I know you were the best person for my son.”

               With that, Kuro led everyone to the caves with the help of Hunk and Pidge’s technology.

               Unfortunately, Keith demanded to come along and Kuro couldn’t argue. Keith could feel the energy more than anyone else. Shiro had been nervous and didn’t set Keith down even once, but at least he wasn’t arguing anymore. Upon arrival of the caves, everyone was in awe of all the intricate designs on the walls. Kuro and Keith shared a small smile before Keith was rambling to Shiro and pointing at all the carvings on the walls.

               Shiro listened with rapt attention and never looked away from Keith’s face as if he was too afraid to look away. When the carvings suddenly began to glow blue and the ground was rumbling Shiro held onto Keith as tight as he could, before the floor below them gave way. Soon everyone was falling and screaming along a wall of rocks and water before being deposited onto another ground below them. Shiro quickly rolled so that he and Keith had less of an impact when they landed and the two burst into fits of giggles when they sat upright in the water.

               Shiro was smiling so wide that his cheeks hurt and he pressed a kiss to Keith’s head, causing him to giggle again. _Oh how he had missed Keith’s laugh. How he had missed everything about Keith._

               “That was very good of daddy.” Keith smiled happily and gently patted Shiro’s cheeks.

               “Thanks baby.” Shiro grinned before standing upright. The two of them shared another giggle when Kuro belly-flopped into the water and Hunk, Lance and Pidge had all fallen on top of him. His breath escaped him with a whoosh and he was squirming to break free. Taking pity on his twin, Shiro quickly helped everyone off Kuro who groaned miserably.

               As Shiro was about to tease his brother, they were stopped when a tug pulled on their minds a sudden warmth filled the air around them. Shiro gasped, sharing a look with Kuro who was staring wide-eyed at his twin. Slowly a grin spread across Kuro’s cheeks.

               “You can feel it now too, can’t you?” He asked. Shiro couldn’t even speak, to stunned by the immense presence of energy with them, and he could only nod. They turned away from one another and their jaws dropped.

               For just a few hundred feet away from them, in cased in some sort of a barrier, stood a blue robotic lion sitting upright. It stood over a hundred feet tall, proud and ominous in the caves. Around them, Lance, Hunk and Pidge were gaping at the sight of the robotic lion too.

               “What is that?”

               “That,” Shiro swallowed thickly, eyes never leaving the lion. “Must be Voltron.”

               Just as Lance took a step towards the lion, its eyes suddenly began to glow bright yellow just before it let out a mighty roar.

_Voltron._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Finals are over! I've survived and now all I am waiting on is for grades! I'm working my way through asks and prompts for the SIngle Dad Shiro AU since I'm on break but I've been meaning to get another chapter out for this "cannon" AU of my Single Dad Shiro AU out! I was blown away by the response to this little fic! Thank you, guys! I appreciate it! In the beginning, a lot will follow the Voltron storyline but eventually, my storyline is going to split. Here we get to meet the lions and Allura and Coran! I plan to get to some Single Dad Shiro AU prompts later today and throughout the week whenever I can! Thanks again guys and enjoy!

               “Voltron isn’t just one of these!”

               “Voltron is a huge, awesome, robot.”

               “Whoa.”

               Keith almost giggled at all of the responses and reactions from his friends and family. However, he was also in a bit of an awed state because he hadn’t known what had been in these caves until now. Nor had he had any idea of what Voltron was. He’d only felt a comforting presence that had wanted to be found.

               Looking over at Lance, Keith dramatically rolled his eyes. _That’s why we couldn’t find you._

               “How do you think we get in?” Lance finally asked once everyone had shaken themselves out of their stupor. He, Hunk and Pidge were already making their way towards the encased blue robotic lion. Kuro and Shiro hung back with Keith, where Shiro was holding onto Keith tighter than before. Keith loved to be in his dad’s arms and would stay here for the rest of his life if he could, but he was actually rather interested in the giant lion before them.

               Shiro gripped him tighter when Keith began to squirm in his usual way that meant he wanted to get down. Swallowing, he couldn’t take his eyes off the mysterious lion in front of him. Especially after this _being_ had just gotten in all of their heads to show them the true form of Voltron. After all that Shiro had endured in the past year, despite not being able to remember _(why couldn’t he remember?)_ what had happened to him, Shiro knew that it was terrifying.

               They were all in danger.

               Pidge was in danger. Lance and Hunk were in danger.

               Kuro was in danger.

               _Keith was in danger._

               The Galra would stop at nothing until every last human was dead if they found Voltron and Earth. They were monsters that wouldn’t stop even when the blood of innocent children were lapping at their feet. Nothing would satisfy them.

               Eventually, Keith’s squirming got too much and Shiro reluctantly set him down on the ground. He tugged on Keith’s wrist as Keith began sprinting after Lance and the others.

               “Stay close.” Shiro whispered. Keith’s eyes widened, and he looked deep into his father’s face, a face that he had come to miss so dearly over the year he had been gone. Quietly, Keith nodded and followed after the others, making sure to stay close to them.

               Lance was weaving side to side, making Keith want to shake his head in annoyance. Lance was weird sometimes and even Keith couldn’t understand him every time he did something weird. Honestly, it was exhausting trying to keep up with him sometimes. Lance rubbed his chin and narrowed his eyes in obvious thought.

               “Does anyone else feel like the eyes are watching them?” Lance asked as he continued to walk side to side. He practically ran into Keith, but stopped centimeters away from the eight-year-old after Keith hissed, much like a drowned cat would. Lance yelped a manly yelp before frowning at Keith.

               “No.” Shiro sighed.

               “Yeah, the eyes are totally following me,” Lance mumbled to himself. Keith looked up at the lion and frowned when he didn’t see the yellow eyes following anyone. In fact, they didn’t even look to be on, but he wasn’t about to argue. Sometimes Lance needed to feel like he was right. Instead, Keith didn’t argue and walked right up to the shield. He felt his dad shakily grip his shoulder when Keith placed both palms on the shield. His dad’s grip was a little tighter than usual but Keith chalked it up to nerves and pressed his face against the shield.

               It didn’t hurt and there were rippling effects of light on the shield every time someone pressed a body part to it. It was memorizing, but Keith was more focused on the fact that they couldn’t reach this lion like this.

               “How do you think we get in?” Keith asked softly.

               “I don’t know,” Shiro replied, eyes trained up at the lion before. This close to the lion and its shield made Shiro realize just how big this robot was. He could hardly imagine how big Voltron must be then. However, his fatherly fears were stopping him from thinking about anything else about Voltron. Instead, he was only focused on keeping Keith safe.

               “Maybe you just gotta knock.” Lance grinned cockily, one hand in his pocket. Keith shared an unimpressed look with his dad, while Kuro snorted in amusement. With his free hand, Lance used his knuckles to rap on the shield several times.

               _Bzzit!_

               Everyone jumped back in shock when suddenly the shield burst around them. Lights dissolved quickly and the shield began to disintegrate. Shiro already had his entire body covering Keith’s, while Keith tried to peek at the disappearing shield. Everyone else stopped cowering in order to stare in awe at the lion without the shield around them. Hunk breathe a sigh of relief when nothing else happened, only to jump again when the lion suddenly moved and lowered its mouth to the ground. Its mouth opened while everyone stood and stared.

               For a while, no one moved a muscle.

               Keith huffed and tried to squirm in his father’s arms so that he was still in his arms but was able to see the lion. _This was too cool to miss._

               “Whoa,” Lance murmured under his breath. Suddenly, a smirk overcame his face and he began to _strut_ towards the lion.

               “Lance, what are you doing?!” Hunk cried, but he too was following after Lance and entering the lion. Pidge sighed tiredly and soon enough she followed after her friends. All that remained was the Shirogane family who were all dubious to enter the mysterious robotic lion. Well, Keith wasn’t but he was currently being held back by his dad.

               Kuro shared a look with his brother, noticing the apprehension etched in his face. He saw the tight hold that Shiro had on Keith and found that he couldn’t blame Shiro. Despite the warming presence of the lion’s energy, this was still a mystery. One that none of them knew the answer to, meaning they had no idea if they or Keith were safe.

               “Its gotten us this far.” Kuro finally shrugged.

               “Kuro, I don’t know.” Shiro bit his lip only to huff when Keith continued squirming like an oiled pig.

               “Hey, he’ll be safe with all of us, alright?” Kuro said softly, placing a hand on his twin brother’s shoulder. Shiro’s eyes were cast downwards on Keith, before they slowly raised to look at Kuro. “We’ll be fine. Don’t you want some answers?”

               It was true. Shiro did want answers. Rather he wanted his _memory_ back.

               Silently, Shiro nodded before he began to slowly release his hold on Keith. Upon realizing he was free, Keith grinned and hopped up and down in excitement. Rather than running off without his dad, Keith wrapped his hand around Shiro’s bionic hand. He didn’t even hesitate to grab the strange hand that now belonged to Shiro. Shiro only had a second of momentary shock before he was being dragged towards the lion by his young son. Kuro followed after with a soft smile.

               _They would be okay._

               “Alright, let’s see what this baby can do!”

x.V.x

               “You are the worst pilot ever!” Keith’s shriek rang through the cabin of the lion.

               Everyone else was murmuring in agreement and even Shiro had to agree. His hold on Keith’s shoulders was tight with one hand, while the other held onto the roof of the cabin with a fierce grip. The others didn’t appear to be holding on any better than Shiro, judging by their death grips on anything that they can grab onto. The only one who even looked happy about the whole situation was _Lance._ And he was cheering and laughing the whole time after he had suddenly taken Blue off the ground and into the air.

               Suddenly, the blue lion took a running leap across the desert ground before launching itself into the air. Shiro could feel thrusters kicking in, signifying that the lion had meant to go far. _No, no, no. We have to get off, we can’t go back. Where is it taking us?_

               “What are you doing?!” Pidge cried.

               “I’m not doing anything, it’s like this thing is on autopilot!” Lance grinned, despite everyone’s fears bubbling under the surface. Even Shiro could see the hidden fears beneath Lance’s calm façade. Instinctively, Shiro pulled Keith closer to him who happily burrowed into his side.

               “It says there’s an enemy ship approaching Earth. I think we’re supposed to stop it.” Lance said. Shiro felt his entire body become rigid with fear and anger. _Aliens? Could they have found me?_ Kuro’s eyes widened while the others stared at Lance incredulously.

               “What exactly did it say?!” Pidge snapped.

               “Well, it’s not saying words,” Lance admitted with a sheepish shrug. Shiro felt his entire soul beginning to leave his body. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take. “More like it’s feeding ideas into my brain. Kind of.”

               “She uses words.” Keith piped up, making everyone jump. Lance instantly glared at the eight-year-old from the pilot’s seat. To which Keith glared back with so much more intensity. After all, he had learned from the scariest known person on the planet: his daddy, in order to perfect his glare. The second scariest person, his uncle, also helped. Lance was no match for the kid and yet he continued to glare at the kid.

               “No, it's not,” Lance argued hotly as the lion continued to sail upwards in the sky through the atmosphere. All the while Hunk kept chanting from them to stop before he barfed.

               “Yeah. She thinks you’re stupid.”

               “You take that back!”

               “Okay, she doesn’t. But she think’s you’re a bit…funny.”

               “Keith!”

               “Lance!”

               “Enough! Both of you!” Shiro finally barked. He rubbed Keith’s shoulders while Keith pouted and continued to glare at Lance. Lance stared at Keith for a few seconds longer until he noticed Shiro’s dark glare aimed at him, and he quickly turned around. Sighing, Shiro then shook his head in amusement.

               “Well if this thing is the weapon they’re coming for, why don’t we, I don’t know? Give it to them?” Hunk interrupted before Shiro could ask Lance _and_ Keith to clarify. “Maybe then they’ll leave us alone. Sorry, lion, nothing personal.”

               Everyone stared at Hunk with such a deadpanned look that Hunk began to sweat. Shiro could feel his heart racing inside of his chest and his arms began trembling. The fire in his blood was all but replaced by cold, unforgiving ice. Each breath he took felt like it took tremendous effort to get.

               “You don’t understand,” Shiro finally said, voice barely shaking. Everyone turned their focus to Shiro, even Keith. While Shiro wished his son didn’t have to hear this – that his son could just be a kid, Shiro knew that Keith was now involved in this war. Whether he wanted to admit.

_Maybe I shouldn’t have returned to Earth. Maybe then Keith could be safe._

               “These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path,” Shiro explained lowly. Keith’s lower lip trembled and he found himself scooting closer to his dad. Kuro stared at Shiro with eyes so full of pain that Shiro had to look away and focus on Hunk. He didn’t know what Lance and Pidge were thinking, but he doubted they were good. Still, he continued. “There’s no bargaining with them. They won’t stop until everything is _dead.”_

               _Until I’m dead. Until you’re dead. Until Keith’s dead._

               Silence filled the cockpit.

               “Oh.” Hunk whispered, unable to say much more. Another uncomfortable silence followed and Shiro found himself unable to look at Keith. Instead, he ran soothing fingers through Keith’s hair, trying to untangle any knots he found. Kuro swallowed thickly, about to speak only for his eyes to look out the window when something caught his eye.

               Only for his jaw to drop.

               “What the _fuck_ is that?!” He finally whispered. They were now in _space_ , and no longer on Earth at all, and in front of them, a giant purple and grey ship had appeared before them. It was massive, bigger than any ship any of them had seen on Earth. With glowing lights and obvious alien weapons all around the ship. This ship looked like it could handle serious damage and that it could cause serious damage, especially to their puny lion. Kuro couldn’t even see where the ship ended; all he could see was the giant canon staring back at them.

               “Is that thing really an alien ship?!” Hunk squeaked.

               Shiro sucked in a horrified breath and his grip on Keith tightened. “They found me.”

               Keith stared up at his father in horror, feeling more overwhelmed than ever before. Suddenly he didn’t feel like exploring and he didn’t want to be in the lion anymore. Despite, the lion’s calming reassurances that she would keep Keith safe, Keith wanted to go home. He wanted to go home with his daddy; with his family.

               “Daddy,” Keith whispered hoarsely, burying his face in Shiro’s side. Just as Shiro pulled him into his arms, the lion jerked upon impact. Suddenly, all around them, Shiro could see lasers and weapons firing directly at them. Some narrowly avoided them while others rocked the lion upon impact. Keith squeaked into Shiro’s arms and Shiro braced himself for impact ass everyone else did.

               “We have to get it out of here!” Kuro snarled when another laser hit the lion. “Away from Earth!”

               Shiro could feel his blood pumping despite the ice in his body and his ears were ringing. His only grounding was the fact that Keith was curled up in his arms, probably terrified for his life.

               “Hold on!” Lance shouted loudly. _Uh, oh, that’s never good._

               There was a quiet burst of noise before the lion was soaring past the enemy ship, faster than anyone had anticipated. Lance’s focus on the screen in front of him was at full capacity with nothing distracting him. It was an unusual sight for the (ex)instructor. Shiro smiled briefly. _Lance had always been an excellent pilot, no matter what Iverson said._

               There were a few close calls and less than delicate maneuvering around the dozens of lasers being shot of them. Several times, Shiro’s back slammed against the back wall before the lion evened out.

               “Careful man,” Pidge warned, face pale and eyes narrowed. She was absolutely terrified. “This isn’t like teaching the kids the simulator!”

               “Well that’s good,” Lance chuckled. “I always wrecked the simulator.” He winked and everyone else felt a scream tear through their lips. _God have mercy on our souls._ Everyone watched as the lion flew closer and closer to the ship, easily evading all of the lasers aimed at them. It was impressive at how well the lion was avoiding being hit before it turned around and opened its mouth.

               To everyone’s astonishment, a large, burning blue beam erupted from the mouth of the lion and headed straight for the enemy ship. Where it blew off pieces of metal and steel from the ship’s haul. A small explosion erupted from the space of impact and the lion buzzed through the lasers shot of them.

               Lance grunted and yanked the controls of the lion back, watching with glee as the lion latched onto the side of the ship and dragged its metal claws along the ship. Serval more smaller explosions occurred in the spaces where the lion's claws had dug into the ship.

               Shiro couldn’t help but grin. “Nice job Lance!” He laughed, earning a cocky grin from Lance. The others all cheered, even Keith, seemingly haven forgotten about the immediate danger they were in.

               “Alright, I think it’s time to get these guys away from our planet,” Lance said firmly. His eyes narrowed and he pushed forward with the controls, maneuvering the lion to start flying away from Earth. Immediately, the ship began following after them.

               No matter how much Lance tried to push the lion forward, the alien ship was continuing to get closer and closer. Shiro’s heart thumped in his chest and his mouth was turning dry. _They’re coming for me._

               “They’re gaining on us!” Pidge yelled, causing Lance to growl.

               “Thanks, I never would have guess Pidge!” He hissed, trying his best to push the lion forward. But nothing was working; Lance didn’t even know how to properly fly this lion. “It’s weird. They’re not trying to shoot at us. They’re simply chasing us!”

               “Okay, seriously, now we think that alien ships following us are good!” Hunk cried.

               Shiro slowly tuned out the voices of everyone else, as his attention was drawn to a side window on the ship. His heart was still racing out of control in his chest and his grip on Keith was as tight as it could be. Keith followed his dad’s attention and his jaw dropped.

               “Where are we?” Keith whispered softly and Shiro’s mouth felt too dry.

               “The edge of the solar system.” He breathed, causing everyone else to look where he was. To see Kerberos right beside them. To see that they had traveled millions and millions of lightyears in a matter of _seconds._ “There’s Kerberos.” A dark emotion settled in the pit of Shiro’s stomach and Keith growled lowly.

               Pidge’s glasses slid down her nose in disbelief. “It takes _months_ for our ships to get here. We got out here in five seconds!” Shiro was just as stunned as she was at the revelation until Keith squirmed.

               “Something’s gonna happen.” He murmured softly. Shiro barely had time to glance down at Keith in confusion, before a loud noise startled them.

               Everyone jumped when a huge circle appeared before them. A ring of unknown lettering and language was circling around the dark matter within the circle. Shiro could catch glimpses of light and darkness within the circle and stars forming within. To Shiro, it looked as if it were a giant, never-ending hole. It was unlike anything they had ever seen and that was most frightening of all.

               Worst yet, the lion seemed to be heading towards the unknown circle.

               “What is that?” Hunk asked, trembling.

               “Uh,” Lance laughed nervously. “This may seem crazy, but I think the lion wants us to go through there!” Shiro’s heart almost leaped out of his throat and he had to swallow the lump back down. Everyone else was in a similar state of panic. Kuro was torn between looking at Lance and his brother and the hole in front of them.

               “Where,” Pidge said softly. “Does it go?”

               “I – I don’t know,” Lance admitted quietly, and everyone’s hearts sunk. It was there worst fears coming through. _To go through an unknown hole and possibly die or to be certainly killed at the hands of the Galra._ “Shiro? Kuro? You two are the captains here, what should we do?”

               For once, Shiro was at a loss for words. His entire focus was not on panicking in front of Keith and his friends. His hand was shaking as it ran through Keith’s hair. Looking down, Shiro saw Keith staring back up at him with those beautiful, big blue eyes that he had loved from the moment he saw Keith’s baby picture. Those same eyes that were staring at him with nothing but love and trust. _He could resign himself to let the Galra get his little star. Never._

               “Whatever’s happening, the lion knows more than we do,” Kuro began, looking at his brother. He could tell that Shiro was close to panicking, but he was rather impressed by how calm Shiro looked on the outside. Shiro glanced at Kuro from the corner of his eyes, catching Kuro’s glance.

               “I say we trust it,” Shiro finally spoke. Everyone swallowed heavily at his statement, except for Kuro who nodded with a soft smile. “But we’re a team now, we should decide together.” _We should decide if we die together or live to fight._

               For a while, no one spoke or moved.

               Shiro looked back down at Keith, who was nodding up at his father with a determined look in his eyes. “We’ll be safe, daddy.” Shiro smiled weakly and brushed back the bangs off Keith’s forehead.

               Slowly, one by one, Kuro nodded and then the others. Eventually, Pidge had placed her hand on Lance’s shoulder and everyone else was staring out the front window. Lance took a deep breath before cracking his shoulders.

               “Alright,” He replied. “I hope everyone got a substitute for their classes tomorrow.”

x.V.x

               “Keep your guard up,” Shiro mumbled tightly, once the lion had finally landed. Only after it had taken them through a mysterious wormhole that had sent them a long, _long_ way from home. Shiro didn’t know where they were any more or how to get back to Earth and it was keeping him on edge. Keith was standing on the ground with one hand holding Shiro’s, looking the least nervous out of all of them. Shiro knew that Keith was always a bit…strong hearted but he didn’t know if this was the lion’s influence making him less cautious.

               He didn’t know if he liked it.

               “Is something wrong Shiro?” Pidge asked quietly.

               “My crew was captured by aliens once,” Shiro growled, already leading Keith out of the lion. “I won’t let it happen again.” With that he and Keith were the first two out of the lion and onto the surrounding land where the lion had landed. Eventually, the others followed suit with Kuro keeping a close eye on his brother and nephew.

               Keith seemed to be in total awe of the place, even if he was trying so hard to not show it. Kuro could see the way that Keith’s eyes were constantly lighting up when he looked all over the castle in front of them. Even Kuro was impressed.

               The castle was grand and marvelous. It looked like it had technology that far surpassed anything on Earth and Kuro couldn’t help but want to see more. However, he was still on his toes in case that this turned out to be an enemy ship too. He’d had enough of the Galra for one day.

               Suddenly, the lion sat up from where it was sitting and the ground shook. Everyone trembled under the monuments force of the lion moving and they all cowered, except for Keith who seemed even more excited. No one but Shiro could hear, but he was actually giggling.

               “Oh no, no, no. I knew it was going to eat us.” Hunk wailed, wrapping his arms around Keith as if he could protect the small child from the angry, alien warship. Everyone else, for a split second, feared that Hunk was right when the lion roared loudly.

               Within the next second, the two front doors to the castle were open and the lion was sitting back down. Then silence fell upon the group as if nothing had happened.

               Shiro glanced over at Hunk who was cowering behind Shiro, still holding onto Keith. Keith had a mighty unimpressed look on his face and he silently pleaded for his dad to rescue him. One of Shiro’s eyebrows rose.

               “Ohhhh – the door is open,” Hunk whispered. A smile overcame his face and he looked over at the lion. “Guess I was wrong about you.”

               “Again.” Keith mumbled under his breath. He huffed when Hunk finally let him go before dusting off his pants. Slowly, he made his way into the castle with Shiro and Kuro following close behind. Lance and Pidge shared a look and soon followed after, leaving Hunk to run in order to catch up to them.

               The inside of the castle was just as magnificent and grand as the outside. However, it was much darker if not a little creepier but Shiro was sure that lit up this castle was beautiful. He made sure to continuously hold Keith’s hand as they wandered through the castle.

               “Hello?” Hunk called into the dark, startling everyone.

               He was quickly shut up when Kuro clamped a hand over Hunk’s mouth. Hunk sheepishly shrugged at the aggravated look on Kuro’s face.

               “What in the ever living fresh fuckery are you doing?” Kuro hissed as quietly as he could. Hunk didn’t answer. After a few minutes of silence, Kuro supposed that it was safe enough to take his hand off Hunk’s mouth.

               Just as Kuro took a step forward a bright light came from above and Kuro only had one thought. _Wasn’t this how the aliens were supposed to get us? Where's a cow when you need one?_

               However, he was shocked when a bright light beamed over all of them and began circling each of their bodies.

               “Hold for identity scan.” A mysterious, robotic voice stated.

               “Why are we here?” Shiro asked suddenly. Beside him, Keith was oogling at the light that was traveling over his arms and hands. He couldn’t help but giggle when everyone else was making noises of awe. “Where are we?” The robotic noise said nothing more, much to Shiro’s frustration.

               Though the lights began to glow and flicker on throughout the castle and a path was soon lit before them.

               “I…guess we’re going that way,” Pidge whispered before the group set off to follow their path.

               Soon enough, Keith was realizing that _no_ he was _not_ tired from all the steps and walking that they had done. No way. He just hadn’t worn the right boots to go up and down so many steps, so of course, his feet were going to hurt. Plus, he could still feel the blue lion’s presence but there was another presence in the castle. One that was much larger but locked away, meaning Keith couldn’t feel much.

               His feet were dragging on the floor as they rounded yet _another_ room. Doors opened in front of them and the group of survivors straggled into the room. Keith huffed moodily, arms crossed over his chest. He could feel his dad’s focus on him, but Keith refused to admit that he was tired.

               If he admitted it, daddy would probably just have to bring him home. Then he’d miss out on the adventure.

               “Where are we?” Lance breathed. Everyone as inspecting their own part of the room with a look of astonishment all over their faces. Keith was grumpily standing beside a small hole near the ground while everyone else looked around. Shiro was glancing all over from the walls to the ceilings and panels in front of them.

               “It looks like some sort of a control room,” Pidge replied.

               _Fwsssh._

               Keith jumped when the ground beside him began to open up and a giant metal tube came out of the ground. He ignored his dad’s nervous attempts at pulling him back to get a better look at the tube, when he realized that there as something inside the tube. To the left of this tube, another metal tube was emerging from the ground and the group closed the ranks together. Keith was just about to speak when suddenly the glass of the tube disintegrated, and everyone could see a woman inside.

               She was a beautiful woman, with dark skin and amazing hair. It was so white and so long, that Keith wanted to run his fingers through it over and over again. However, he was caught up on the pointed tips of her ears and the two bright pink marks underneath both of her closed eyes.

               That’s when she opened her eyes.

               “Father!” She cried, reaching out, only to stumble and fall. Keith’s eyes widened, and he reached out to catch her, only for Lance to jump in and keep her from hitting the floor. Keith huffed but nodded. _At least Lance is good for something._ The woman slumped in Lance’s arms before trying to righten herself. It was obvious that she was confused about her whereabouts or what was happening at that moment, but to be fair _everyone_ was confused.

               Then Lance got that stupidly gross smirk on his face that he always got when talking to girls. “Hello there.”

               Keith’s face morphed into an expression of exasperation. Shiro, Kuro, and the others were looking very similar.

               “Who are you? Where am I?” The woman asked, finally noticing everyone else in the room. She warily glanced around at all of them and Keith swallowed thickly.

               “I’m Lance and you’re right here in my arms.” Lance grinned, and Keith almost groaned out loud.

               Ignoring his statement, the woman frowned. “Your ears…”

               A light blush coated Lance’s face and Keith almost snickered at his embarrassment. _Serves him right._

               They’re hideous. What’s wrong with them?” The woman suddenly looked repulsed and Lance was offended. Keith couldn’t help but snicker loudly at the woman’s statement, though she didn’t seem to hear him. Even Keith’s dad was struggling not to laugh out loud at this current predicament.

               “Nothing’s wrong with them!” Lance squeaked, high pitch due to being embarrassed. “They heard exactly what you said about them.” By now, Lance had leaned towards the woman which meant that he was leaning into her space. He was oblivious to the continuous look of anger on the woman’s face and in less than a second she had grabbed Lance by the ear, spun him around to pin his arm behind his back and had him kneeling on the floor.

               Keith almost cheered with bright eyes. He wondered if this woman would be willing to teach him that move. Especially when Lance cried out in the unmanliest manner ever.

               “Who are you?!” The woman snarled, surprising the others of her ferocity. “Where is King Alfor? What are you doing in my castle?!”

               Lance cried out again. “A giant blue lion brought us here! That’s all we know!”

               Shiro sighed and slapped his forehead while Kuro shook his head in disappointment. The mentally reminded each other to never, ever let Lance get captured by the enemy.

               “Why do you have the blue lion?!” Finally, the woman let go of Lance, who slumped to the floor in relief. She turned her attention to the others, all of whom were staring at her in horror. Shiro had put his body in front of Keith, blocking the woman’s view of Keith. “What happened to its paladin?!”

               “What are you all doing here?” The woman’s voice became softer and her expression was no longer infuriated. Lance winced, rubbing his ears with tears in his eyes as he sent her a glare. The woman simply ignored this. “Unless – how long has it been?”

               Finally, Shiro decided to step up. Kuro cursed his brother’s soft heart and inability to not take charge of a situation, even when crazy-kickass alien women were involved.

               “We don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shiro replied softly. “Why don’t you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help out.” Keith tried to peek around his dad, only to be pushed back.

               “I am princess Allura of planet Altea.” The woman introduced. Everyone’s eyes widened at the mention of her title, but the planet’s name didn’t ring any bells. Quickly, she made her way towards the control panel in the center of the room, while everyone else backed out of her way. “I’ve got to find out where we are and how long we’ve been asleep.”

               _Asleep?_ Shiro stared at Kuro in confusion.

               “You don’t look like a princess.”

               Shiro froze and prayed that the princess had ignored Keith’s sudden statement. _Maybe she’ll think it was the wind or something? She must still be groggy._ However, just as the control panel began lighting up, the woman stopped to stare at Shiro. Only she wasn’t actually looking at Shiro, but rather down at her leg where Keith was looking out from.

               Shiro wished now more than ever that Keith had learned how to bite his tongue and refrain from speaking out loud. Normally, he was terrific at keeping silent, so much that Shiro often had to _search_ to find Keith.

               Allura blinked in surprise upon seeing Keith.

               “You have a child?” She stated quietly. Shiro tried to push Keith back, only for Keith to stubbornly stay where he was.

               “Where’s your big crown if you’re a princess?” Keith asked loudly. Lance hid his face into his jacket sleep, wishing he could just die of embarrassment. Hunk was nervously eyeing the princess as if waiting for her impending explosion for Keith’s statement. Pidge was unsure if it was appropriate to bet that Keith would destroy this princess in a matter of seconds. Kuro was trying his best not to laugh out loud at Keith.

               “Pardon me?” Allura asked softly.

               “How come you don’t have a big crown? Like all the fancy crowns in the movies?” Keith repeated. He was glaring sharply at the princess as if she had personally offended him. Typically, responses like this ignited stubborn anger in everyone else who tried to hold a conversation with Keith. Everyone that wasn’t family.

               Shiro looked up at the ceiling as if that would suddenly solve the solution.

               Suddenly, Allura’s expression softened as she paused in typing on her control panel. She briefly smiled over at Keith, looking fond rather than upset. Keith was most likely still glaring back at her and trying to look intimidating, though he was clutching Shiro’s pant leg tightly and hiding behind Shiro.

               “Well little one,” Allura said softly, turning her body towards Shiro and Keith. Keith jumped and tried to hide behind his father even further but Shiro wouldn’t move. The princess looked like she meant no harm to them. “I am only a princess. Our big crowns are reserved for our queens, to signify her status of royalty. I have my own crown but as I am not the queen, it is smaller.” Allura pointed towards the simple, yet elegant crown over her forehead.

               Keith frowned thoughtfully and rubbed his chin as if debating the princess’s response.

               “Oh,” Keith simply said.

               Allura chuckled and Shiro could hear everyone else laughing as quietly as they could in the background. He chose to ignore it and smiled at the princess.

               “He is your child?” Allura asked softly, gesturing towards Shiro. Slowly, Shiro nodded.

               “Yes. He’s my son.” Shiro replied and stroked Keith’s hair back as he continued to hold his father’s leg. Keith instinctively cuddled up into Shiro’s hand petting his head.

               “I can see the resemblance,” Allura said.

               “Actually, he’s adopted,” Shiro answered quickly. Keith didn’t even blink at the response. Shiro had already told him about Keith being adopted and explained how it changed nothing between them. Luckily, Keith had taken the news extremely well because “Daddy was daddy no matter what.”

               “Oh. I apologize. But he is still your son.” Allura repeated without really asking a question. She could already tell the strong bond that the two shared and it made her feel less like everything was going to fall apart. “It feels like it has been a long time since I last saw a child.”

               Behind them, another noise sounded, alerting them that someone else was about to emerge from a pod. Lance eagerly anticipated another woman coming out, despite having gotten his butt kicked by Allura less than ten minutes ago. However, he was sorely disappointed to see a man, with ridiculous orange hair and a stunning mustache, emerge instead.

               Keith was fairly amused when the man and Lance both started to argue about how they would have kicked each other’s butts. He didn’t think that Lance’s karate kick was even a real kick. After all, Keith would know since he’d been taking martial arts for almost five years now. He was _practically_ a black belt.

               Then Allura gasped quickly.

               “Princess, what is it?” The orange haired man was quick to ignore Lance and rush to Allura’s side. Everyone else moved closer to the princess and the man in anticipation. There were all curious to learn what exactly was happening. “Coran, we’ve been asleep for ten thousand years!”

               Everyone was stunned.

               _Ten thousand years?_

_Ten thousand years._

               “Planet Altea and all of the planets in our solar system have been destroyed,” Allura finally whispered while Coran pulled her into a hug. Shiro felt his heart ache for the two. He wasn’t sure what he would do if Earth was destroyed, and he knew everyone else was thinking the same thing. He wondered what there was to do to console someone who had lost their home for millenniums. _What do you do?_

               “Zarkon!” Allura growled suddenly.         

               _Flashes of bright lights overhead._

_Yellow eyes gleaming down on him._

_Ragged rows of sharp teeth smirking cruelly at him._

_More bright lights._

_Shouting and screams could be heard._

_Pain. Pain. Pain._

_So much pain._

_It hurts._

               Shiro gasped as he was pulled back out of the sudden flashback. His heart was beating too fast in his chest and his breathing was obviously labored. His chest felt as if it were on fire while his blood felt like he had been filled with ice.

               Shiro blinked when he felt Kuro touch his prosthetic. He looked up to see Kuro looking at him with concern before feeling everyone else’s eyes on him.

               “Zarkon?” Shiro mumbled quietly.

               “He was the king of the Galra,” Allura explained, eyes cast down with anger. “A vile creature and enemy to all free people.”

               “I remember now. I was his prisoner! Zarkon was the one who captured my crew and me.” Shiro felt his hands clench up into fists and he took a deep breath to remain clam when Keith looked up at him.

               “He’s still alive? Impossible!” Allura replied stiffly. “Zarkon was alive ten thousand years ago.”

               “I can’t explain it, but it’s true: Zarkon is still alive,” Shiro replied. “He’s searching for a superweapon called Voltron.”

               Allura looked deeply troubled by these new events and it made Shiro a little uneasy. However, she didn’t’ argue anymore. _If Zarkon has been alive for ten thousand years, who knows how much damage he has done?_ Shiro, for a brief second, was fearful that this meant Zarkon was impossible to defeat. He quickly shoved that fear down, when he realized that thinking like that would do nothing for them.

               Finally, Allura spoke again, “He’s searching for it because he knows it’s the only thing that can defeat him, and that’s exactly why we must find it before he does!” Then Allura stalked out of the control room with Coran close on her heels. Leaving the humans alone with one another, feeling as if a weight had settled over their bodies and were weighing them down with an unimaginable pain.

               Shiro swallowed thickly, unable to stop himself from hugging Keith close to him and running his fingers through Keith’s hair. For once, Keith remained quiet. He was as unsure of what to say as everyone else was.

               _They weren’t going home anytime soon._

               It was only when Allura and Coran returned, both looking worse for wear, did anything happen. Shiro didn’t comment on their red eyes nor their drawn expressions. Eventually, Allura smiled softly as she closed her eyes.

               Then with a wave of her hands, lights lit up all around the humans.

               All of them gaped in wonder at the advanced technology, eyes drawn to all the blue dots throughout the room. There were millions upon millions of lights scattered all across the room, some were larger than others and some further apart. The closer that Shiro looked at them, the more he realized that this wasn’t just a bunch of random lights.

               No, these were _stars._

               This was a map of hundreds of solar systems.

               “Whoa,” Keith whispered, moving away from his dad’s leg. His eyes were shining brightly as he took in the sight of all the stars, but he kept holding Shiro’s hand all the while. The whole system of stars was turning in rotation all over the room.

               Shiro’s eyes caught sight of large, planet lights with outline metal lions, similar to the blue lion that they had been in, scattered across the map.

               “This is how we will find the lions,” Allura explained with a smile. The looks of wonder and awe on these human’s faces were enough to momentarily let her wash away the pain of losing Altea and her father.

               “King Alfor connected the lions to Allura’s lifeform. She’s able to detect and locate all of the lions.” Coran explained, looking like a proud father in that moment.

               “The black lion looks like it's in the same place as the red lion.” Pidge suddenly spoke up. Shiro, Keith, and the others looked over to see what Pidge was talking about, and sure enough, both lions were detected to be on the same planet.

               “Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage.” Coran leaned up closer to Pidge, making the other scowl.

               “Very observant. That’s because the black lion is in the castle.” Allura said.

               Coran nodded. “To keep the black lion out of Zarkon’s hands, King Alfor locked it in the castle.” His eyes were sad but the smile on his face remained. “It can only be freed if the other four lions are present.”

               Kuro couldn’t help but nod. _Sounds smart._

               “As you have found,” Allura began quietly. “The lions choose their pilots. It is a mystical bond and can _not_ be forced. The quintessence of the pilot is mirrored in his lion.”

               Kuro frowned. _Quin-whatence?_

               “Together, they form something greater than science can explain.” With that, Allura waved her hand across the stars and slowly moved it around the room. This caused everything else on the map of stars to move, including the details of the black and blue lion.

               Everyone blinked in surprise when the black lion stopped just in front of Shiro. Shiro swallowed, eyes trained on Princess Allura rather than the detail in front of him, feeling a burst of courage sweep through him. His back straightened and his grip on Keith loosened, while Keith looked up at the black lion in awe. He reached out with tiny fingers towards the black lion.

               “The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron. It will take a pilot who is a born leader and in control at all times,” Allura explained. “Someone who’s men will follow without hesitation. That is why, Shiro, you will pilot the Black Lion.”

               Shiro kept his gaze on Allura throughout her explanation before glancing down at Keith. Keith, who was still trying to reach for the black lion. Keith who was his son and innocent in all of this. Keith, who was about to get in the middle of a war.

               Shiro didn’t know if he could be a leader. Instead, he just wanted to take Keith far, far away. To never let him even see what might come. But Shiro feared his fate had already been set. He’d become a part of this war the moment he had taken off for Kerberos. He couldn’t run from this war, not when there were others who would suffer the same fate Shiro had.

               Not when the Galra could take Keith.

               So, Shiro nodded in agreement.

               “The Green Lion,” Allura continued without hesitation and she moved the map of stars again. “Has an inquisitive personality. It needs a pilot of intellect and daring. Pidge, you will pilot the green lion.”

               Pidge’s entire face lit up upon realization and Shiro almost wished he had a phone. Keith leaped away from Shiro’s leg in order to rush over to Pidge’s side. Eagerly he looked up at the green lion details in front of Pidge. Pidge beamed, lifting Keith off the ground to better see the green lion.

               “The Blue Lion –”

               “Wait, hold up. Lemme guess.” Lance interrupted Allura with a confident smirk. Keith and Pidge both deflated with disbelief while Allura stared at Lance unimpressed. “Takes the most handsome slash best pilot of the bunch.” Kuro would swear that Lance’s teeth sparkled when he smiled too.

               Allura frowned.

               “The Yellow Lion,” She continued and Lance’s shoulders drooped in defeat. “Is caring and kind. It’s the one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will life the team up and hold them together.” Allura waved her hand once more, watching as the yellow lion details drifted across the room.

               Keith squirmed in Pidge’s arms before she finally released him. He trailed happily after the yellow lion, eyes never once looking away from it when it stopped in front of a bewildered Hunk. Keith grinned, still eyeing the lion while Hunk was in a mode of panic.

 _That’s right. He and Pidge were never pilots before._ Shiro thought to himself.

               “The Red Lion is temperamental and the most difficult to master. It’s faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable.” Allura continued and she put her hands together only to pull them back and reveal the red lion in her hands. From the corner of his eyes, Keith saw this and raced towards Allura. Shyly he looked up when she let go of the red lion and reached out with his small hands.

               Allura smiled warmly at the curious child, watching as Keith grabbed the lion out of the air. “Its pilot needs to rely more on instincts than skill alone.”

               Shiro was watching Keith the entire time with a racing heart. _If he is a pilot, I am going to quit life. I am going to shave my head, curl up in a corner and cry. That’s it. I’ll have a full breakdown in front of my son, my brother and my closest family._

               Thankfully, the details of the lion floated out of Keith’s hands and over towards a sullen Kuro.

               “Kuro, _you_ will fly the Red lion,” Allura said.

               “Hm, that sounds like Kuro.” Lance nodded to himself, slightly disappointed that he wasn’t the most agile or best at flying. “Hot-temper? Check. Never relies on skill? Check. Unstable?”

               Kuro would deny pouting at Lance’s words.

               “Unfortunately,” Allura said, gathering their attention once more. “I cannot locate the red lion’s coordinates yet. There must be something wrong with the castle. After ten thousand years it might need some work.” 

               “Once all the lions are united, you will form _Voltron._ The most powerful weapon; the defender of the universe!” Allura said brightly. To everyone’s amazement, the lions began to run at each other with a mighty roar, until the hit one another to form the giant robot known as Voltron.

               “Whoa,” Everyone whispered.

               “Awesome.” Lance cheered.

               Hunk was saying something about how long the trip was going to take, while Shiro was already forming a plan in his head. _As leader of Voltron, it’s my job to protect my team. That includes Keith._

               “We don’t have much time,” He responded with a firm nod. Immediately, everyone looked towards Shiro including Keith. “Pidge and I will get the green lion. Lance, you take Hunk and get the yellow one. Kuro, you stay here.” Shiro placed an arm on Kuro’s shoulder. Kuro looked like he wanted to complain but refrained from doing so. “If you locate that red lion, go get it.”

               “I wanna help too!” Keith huffed dramatically.

               “Keith, I need you to stay here with Kuro and the princess,” Shiro replied, getting down on one knee in front of his son. Keith’s entire body demeanor stopped suddenly and his smiled slipped off his face.

               “But I wanna go with you!”

               “Keith, it’s too dangerous. You need to stay here in the castle where it’s safe.” Shiro sighed softly. _Stay here for me._

               “No! I can help!” Keith’s lower lip wobbled.

               “Of course!” Shiro said, recognizing a tantrum when he saw one. Right now, was not the time for Keith to meltdown and his heart was aching to stay with his son. It was hard to deny Keith anything when Keith was staring at him with those big blue eyes.

               “You’re helping Uncle Kuro to locate the red lion!” Shiro said quickly. Keith’s lower lip stop trembling but he didn’t look pleased.

               “Yeah Keith,” Kuro chimed in quickly. “Like how you helped me to feel the Blue lion! I’ll need your help and expertise.” At this, Keith looked like he was considering staying.

               “Plus, you can help Coran and I get the castle defenses ready,” Allura added. Keith was silent for a few more minutes until he looked back at Shiro.

               “You’ll come back this time? On time?” Keith finally whispered, voice cracking. Shiro could feel his heart beginning to break all over again. For once he wished that he would listen to Keith and stay with him if only to avoid their loneliness.

               “Keith, sweetheart,” Shiro said softly, rubbing his thumb on Keith’s cheek. “I swear to you that I will come home as soon as I can. I _won’t_ leave you again.”

               It was a few more long minutes of silence, where Shiro had feared that Keith wouldn’t change his mind. However, Keith finally nodded his head. He still looked upset by the fact, but he didn’t argue with Shiro anymore. With that, Shiro could breathe a sigh of relief.

               He was going to keep Keith protective as best as possible despite this war.

               Shiro just hoped he was doing the right thing.

x.V.x

               Getting the green lion had been a walk in a beautiful, green rainforest.

               Getting the yellow lion had been like filling your shorts with desert sand and rocks.

               Thankfully, both lions had been acquired. And Keith was the first to greet Shiro and the others upon their arrival. Even both the princess and Coran. He beamed happily, stating that the red lion had been located and that they princess would need their help.

               Shiro smiled softly, content to hold Keith in his arms while Keith stared up at the green and yellow lion with wide eyes. He couldn’t help but wish that the look of wonder and joy on Keith’s face could remain forever.

               Later, when Shiro was alone with Allura, observing Keith and the lions they spoke.

               “Your son has an unusual bond with the lions.” She finally stated. Shiro could feel his entire body stiffen at this as his worst fears came to mind first. Allura didn’t look at Shiro and kept her face towards Keith. Shiro could feel his prosthetic trembling at his side but he forced himself to not freak out.

               “Is that bad?” He asked instead.

               “I don’t know,” Allura admitted. “Usually, only the pilot bonds with their lion. I’m sure Pidge, Lance, and Hunk all explained what it felt like to bond with their lions. I was the only person who had a bond with _all_ the lions but I cannot feel them as Keith can.”

               “My brother said Keith felt the blue lion before we found it,” Shiro whispered. “He told me that Keith said he could _feel_ a presence that wanted to be found. It was the blue lion’s presence.”

               “Incredible,” Allura replied.

               “He says the _speak_ to him.” Shiro said tightly. Now Allura’s eyes widened and she looked at Shiro.

               “Lance says that his lion would send him images and messages to his brain but without words. But Keith says they use words. He calls all the lions _her.”_ Shiro continued tightly.

               “He can hear them?” Allura breathed in astonishment. “That is…unheard of. I’ve never seen someone able to speak to the lions, without having a quintencial bond as pilot and lion.”

               “Is he in danger?” Shiro couldn’t help but ask. This time he turned to face Allura so that they could look each other in the eye. He didn’t want Allura to lie to him when it came to Keith. Shiro was ready to put everything on the line if it meant Keith would be safe.

               “Fear not Shiro,” Allura replied gently. “Keith is in no danger. The Lions would _never_ hurt an innocent. Even if their pilot chose to do so. It’s unheard of, but I don’t think this is a negative experience for Keith. Rather, it could become helpful in the future.”

               “What?” Shiro blinked.

               “Keith has bonded with the lions and they have accepted him wholly. He can sense the black lion’s presence despite being locked up. He sensed the green and yellow lions, so that was how he was able to be the first to greet you.” Allura smiled. “I have no doubt that with a bond like this, the lions will grow protective of Keith. They will keep him safe.”

               “Keith is not a pilot.” Shiro didn’t admit that he felt much lighter upon hearing that Keith would be safe. What’s safer than the world’s greatest weapon?

               “No, and I’m not saying that if it comes to that Keith will pilot one of the lions. But _should_ anything happen to you or to us, and Keith must be on his own with the lions, he will be safe with them. But Keith gives the Lions a reason to also bond deeply with each of its pilots. More than their previous paladins.”

               Shiro didn’t say anything else. Instead, he turned his attention back to Keith and the other lions. He knew that Allura was telling the truth. Keith would be safest with the lion if he ever needed to get away. He knew Keith was fine here and yet, Shiro also knew that while Voltron, the universe’s greatest weapon, would be the safest protection for him, it was also the most dangerous position for Keith.

               For Zarkon was after Voltron and he would stop at _nothing_ to get it back.

               Even if it meant killing Keith.

               Shiro wouldn’t let that happen though. He would _never_ let Zarkon get his hands on Keith. He would die before that happened.

 


End file.
